Nintendo announces Wii U details
Written by Staff Reports | | news@toledofreepress.comBy Sagar Sharma – Toledo Free Press
Nintendo hosted an eagerly awaited Sept. 13 news conference for the latest entry into the video game home console market.
The Nintendo Wii U will launch in North America on Nov. 18, with Europe and Japan launches to follow.
Two models will be available on launch day, a basic ($299) and a premium ($349) package. The basic offering comes in white with 8GB of memory and the usual expected accessories, including the new Wii U gamepad. The premium model offers the console in a black finish, 32GB of memory, “Nintendo Land” and bonus accessories.
Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, addressed the media in New York City by saying he wanted to focus on the Wii U experience. The latest feature of the Wii U he introduced was Nintendo TVii. This turns your Wii U gamepad into a control device that will allow you to interact, record and control your entertainment programming. The service was demonstrated on stage by showing a football game on TV while scores, statistics and live highlights displayed on the Wii U gamepad screen.
The big shocker of the conference was the announcement of Platinum Game’s “Bayonetta 2” and its exclusivity for the Wii U platform. This critically acclaimed darling, revered by core gamers, was not expected to see the light of day on Nintendo’s casual-centric console. Nintendo’s flagship title franchise, Mario, will launch with the system. “New Super Mario Bros. U” looked fantastic and has never looked better with the new hardware behind it. Overall, the conference was otherwise light on new gaming information except for the expected announcement of “Call of Duty Black Ops 2.”
With an entry price of $299, the Wii U will be the most expensive console on the market. And with graphic capabilities only matching 7-year-old technology, it is unlikely the Wii U will take off the same way its predecessor did. Releasing a console at the $299 price point is risky in this economic climate, especially when console sales have been steadily declining over the past year.
Aside from the titles Nintendo has announced for the launch window, from November till March, the future software for the console is relatively unknown. One can expect all the usual Nintendo first-party games to appear, but it remains to be seen if the third-party support will be there.
Buying a console at launch is always a risk — just ask PlayStation Vita owners who are starving for new content — and with third-party support historically not in favor of Nintendo, it remains to be seen if buying the console at launch will be a safe bet.
